The Penny Drops
by KuriQuinn
Summary: After the misunderstanding at the inn and hot spring, Shikamaru comes to a rather belated realisation about a certain Suna kunoichi. [Part of the Legacy of Fire Series]


**Summary** **: After the misunderstanding at the inn and hot spring, Shikamaru comes to a rather belated realisation about a certain Suna kunoichi.**

 **Disclaimer:** **This story utilizes characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelizations, comics or short stories is intended by the author in any way, shape or form. This fan oriented story is written solely for the author's own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All fiction, plot and Original Characters with the exception of those introduced in the books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn and using them without permission is considered rude, in bad-taste and will reflect seriously on your credibility as a writer. You will be force-fed shogi pieces if you plagiarise.**

 **Warning:** _ **Spoiler**_ **s** **for pretty much everything up to Chapter 699. Presence of Original Characters. Just because.**

 **Canon-Compliance:** **As close to canon as fanfiction can possibly be. With a few personal additions :P Takes place during the Blank Period, before Naruto's wedding.**

 **Fanon-Compliance** **: Takes place several years before** _ **An Inch of**_ _ **Gold**_ **and** _ **Unplanned.**_

 **AN: This was a tumblr fic prompt and I decided it fit in the LOF headcanon 'verse. I know it's not SasuSaku but I'm sure there are some ShikaTema fans amongst you guys :P**

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Shikamaru stares down at the shogi board, glaring at the formation of the pieces as if they hold all of life's answers.

Usually playing against himself in the evening is a good way to wind down from the day, but today he just can't seem to get his thoughts in order. It might have something to do with the throbbing bruises across his entire body or the slick, all-pervasive sense of mortification from the day's misunderstandings.

 _Seriously. I thought I was being pretty clear. Why the hell would she think I wanted_ us _to go to an inn together?_

He and Temari have only ever had the one dinner together, and they spent most of it talking about work. It wasn't an actual _date_ and he can't think of any point in time when he might have indicated…

Damn it, this is Chōji's fault.

In fact, Shikamaru is fairly certain that his friend set him up. The guy might have food on the brain at every waking hour, but they've known each other long enough for Shikamaru to be familiar with the hidden deviousness that is his best friend. What makes Chōji especially dangerous is that he is such a gentle soul, no one expects it from him – and when his occasional bursts of premeditated evil manifest, no one is ever prepared.

Even Shikamaru, who analyses patterns and factors the incalculable into every decision, cannot predict when Chōji will tap into his secret slyness, because it happens so infrequently and without pattern.

Which is why he's definitely sure Chōji set him up, because he hasn't ended up in such an embarrassing predicament since the time his friend thought it would be an excellent idea to soak Ino's training bra in wasabi.

His left cheekbone still aches before it rains...

There is a short staccato knock against the door frame and then the shoji slides open to reveal Shikamaru's mother.

Yoshino Nara is a little greyer and has a few more wrinkles than she did before the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but her tongue has lost none of its sharpness. In fact, with her husband gone, she's even more focussed on her son than she ever was.

It's a drag.

"You're still out here?" she demands, not bothering with a greeting. "Don't you have work to do tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'm just clearing my head before bed," Shikamaru replies as she closes the door and looks him up and down.

"What are all these bruises?" she wants to know. "You don't get bruises like that apprenticing as Hokage's assistant – you're not getting into fights now, are you?"

"No, it's nothing," he dismisses.

When his mother crosses her arms and frowns at him, making clear that she won't leave him alone until he gives her aa batter answer, he sighs.

"Temari and I went to a hot spring together and there were…misunderstandings."

His mother gapes at him.

"Temari?" she repeats. "The Kazekage's _sister_? You're seeing each other?"

"What? No, we're not, it's was just –"

"Then why on earth did you take her to a hot spring, unless your relationship is progressing in that way?" she snaps, and then smacks him upside his head. "And why didn't you say anything to me about this? If I had known you were courting someone so important, I'd have told you to make yourself look more respectable!"

"'Courting'?" Shikamaru echoes, and chokes. "No – no it wasn't like that! I'm planning on giving Naruto and Hinata a honeymoon at a nice hot spring, but I needed help getting a woman's perspective so I asked Temari to come along."

His mother purses her lips, and then asks, "And did she know that?"

"Of course – well, at first there was a bit of a mix up, but at the end of the day we figured it out and she said it was fine."

"Before or after she beat you?"

He winces. "After."

Yoshino considers his bruises and shakes her head. "Judging from how deep those knuckle prints are, I imagine you waited longer than you should have to have that conversation."

"Geez, you're both blowing it completely out of proportion," he complains.

"And you're making light of it!" his mother barks, making him recoil. "That girl went around with you all day operating under the assumption that you were looking for a hot spring from the two of you."

"So? It's really not that…big…a deal," Shikamaru begins, but his mother's words sink in.

Temari thought they were looking for a hot spring and an inn for the two of them. The whole day, she was walking around thinking that they were going to spend the night together.

To stay in.

Together.

Alone.

And she still went along with him.

Which means not only did she pretty much agree to the idea of _sleeping_ with him from the onset, but considering she could have left at any point, she actually _wants_ to sleep with him.

Or, _wanted_ to, before his monumental stupidity.

"How did I raise such a clueless idiot?" Yoshino sighs and walks back into their home. Shikamaru is still having such a hard time processing how he feels about this whole thing that he has no rebuttal to offer.

Temari.

The sister of a former homicidal maniac and a grown man who makes creepy, poisonous puppets.

A woman who can probably decapitate men without even using that fan of hers.

Shikamaru blinks.

On the heels of that idea is a mental image of Temari leaning over him, brandishing her fan and pressing him back into the ground with one foot. Her chest heaves with effort, but she smirks down at him, drawling at him in challenge.

"Give in," he imagines her saying, in that husky voice of hers.

 _That image should not be as appealing as it is._

Shikamaru swallows now, and glares down at his lap.

 _Inappropriate erection – damn it!_

He jumps to his feet, nearly spilling the shogi pieces all over the floor and paces back and forth, trying to will himself back under control.

"This is your fault," he tells his father, glowering in the direction of their home _butsudan_ , where a picture of his father rests. "You and your genes and passing on your submissive tendencies to me – all your fault!"

He never really understood why his parents got married or what attracted his father to such a brash woman as his mother and now –

Now he's thinking about parent sex, which is far more disturbing than anything he has ever thought before.

 _No. None of that. And I don't even like Temari in that way._

So what if he starts stuttering the simplest words, and suddenly finds forming proper sentences impossible when they are around one another?

Or that earlier he thought it was kind of endearing the way she got flustered when he mentioned the word "honeymoon". It's always such a treat to see her change from hard and intimidating to beautiful –

 _That's a fact, not a personal opinion_ , he reasons quickly, as if defending himself from some inner cross-examination.

Although…

Although, he can't help feeling a little honoured of the fact that someone like her even considers him a potential sexual partner.

The mortification begins to ebb now, replaced by something warm and primal and _proud_.

And then he shakes his head again.

 _No, no, no, there's no time for this, especially not now with so much going on with Naruto and Hinata's wedding coming up. And I have work, and she's organizing the exam. Not to mention she's from another village. This really is the most inconvenient situation, so there's no point to pursuing it._

Of course…he might just be overthinking it.

Maybe it's all just about sex.

Temari wants to sleep with him – have sex with him.

This could be a good thing.

Humans are sexual creatures and need release in order to function well. He's always been too lazy, or too uninterested or just too busy to find anyone he's wanted to sleep with. His right hand does the job well enough, and allows him to keep from wasting his time.

But an actual woman to have sex _with_ …well, he's lazy, but he's not stupid. He knows which option is the most preferred, biologically and socially speaking.

And hey, he's a man, he has fantasies…and if those fantasies have started to resemble a certain blond, green-eyed warrior woman in recent years he doesn't intend to admit that to anyone, least of all himself.

But being with an actual person in that way presents complications.

What if she starts expecting things from him?

That's what women do – they expect grand gestures and attention and _relationships_. And he doesn't want to do any of those things because from what he's seen of his paired-up friends, it seems like a lot of effort. And headaches.

 _Maybe she just wants to have sex._

It would certainly be uncomplicated, which is his preference, but does that mean they could be casual about it and continue to work well together when she visits Konoha? Or would sex just screw up their friendship?

 _And if she decides after a while that she wants something more?_

She'll expect him to step up. And she's not the type to wait around, which means if he wasn't ready, she could easily find someone else.

That feeling in his stomach is back now, although it's more hot and angry, an ugly, clawing feeling that he has to swallow down.

No, he doesn't like that idea. Not at all.

The idea of another man touching her – or even having her grace him with that flustered, demure glance – makes Shikamaru feel sick.

"Damn it," he sighs.

It seems quite without his awareness or permission, his appreciation of Temari has gone from casual affection to actual _feelings._

Possibly even something as inconvenient and irritating as the beginnings of _love._

It seems wedding gifts are the least of his problems now.

"And I'm going to have to apologise, too," he groans, rolling his eyes to the heavens. He's not going to sleep tonight trying to figure out how to do _that_. "What a drag…"

終わり

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 _Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated!_

 _クリ_


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